Chariot
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day thirteen - Artie has a thing for a Cheerio Gleek...


_Three... Two (!!) week Glee hiatus, the horrors! To try and make it go by faster, I decided to do this project. I'll put up one new ficlet every day (I hope...) up to the day Glee returns! So be on the lookout! :)_

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**"Chariot"  
(Artie, Artie/Brittany)**

He'd long grown accustomed to having things be out of reach. It didn't bother him anymore, not really. It was just a part of his life. Only as he grew did he come to understand that it could also be that people could be 'out of reach' as well. Just like the rest, he'd grown to accept it.

The girls of the cheerleading squad were at the top of the list when it came to being out of his reach.

But then something happened, a veritable miracle, really… three of them joined Glee Club. And not just any odd Cheerio, he would come to see, as time went on.

He'd become… mesmerized, by one in particular. He'd first come to realize it as they were preparing for the invitational. He'd only ever seen all of them in their uniforms, now they were all dressed the same, they were a team… and she shined among them in his eyes.

What had sealed the matter was one moment, as they were moving into position on stage. Their eyes had met and… she'd smiled. It wasn't even truly aimed at him in the sense of "I'm smiling because I see you," as amazing as that would have been. No, it was a smile of excitement, of giddiness, for what they were all about to do.

She was as excited about being there, doing this, as he was… they both shared a love for one thing, a common interest. It gave him the seeds of hope that maybe she wasn't so out of reach as so many things or people had been.

The big question remained however… how was he to bridge the still-existing gap between them?

And, once again, a miracle.

One afternoon, it had so happened that they were the first ones to arrive for Glee Club practice. As he wheeled in, she was sitting on one of the chairs, hunched over a notebook, and… mumbling? He imagined it was homework, didn't want to disrupt her, so he rolled to the side, picked up the bass, checking it. When he accidentally plucked a string, she looked up.

"Sorry," he waved.

"It's okay," she shrugged, looking back to her notebook but not before he'd spotted the frustration on her face. He looked down as well, but he had to wonder… he'd made contact now, shouldn't he use the opportunity to…

"What are you working on?" It took a moment for her to look up, as though she hadn't realized he was talking to her.

"Uh… Spanish," she revealed and he nodded. She frowned. "At least it's supposed to be, I… I'm not very good at it... I suck at it," she admitted with a defeated sigh.

"Can't be that bad," he promised.

"No?" she questioned, getting up and bringing the notebook to him. He looked over the test, which had been erased and corrected time and again in many spots. He could understand her frustration now.

"It's not… completely hopeless." Another idea… "If you'd like, I could help you correct it," he suggested. Her face brightened… his heart melted.

"That'd be great," she nodded.

"After Glee?"

"Sure!" she beamed, just as Quinn, Finn, Rachel, Santana, and Kurt entered. The others came along in the next few minutes, and finally they began practicing a new number.

The closer they got to the end of practice, the more anxious he got. When Mr. Schuester finally called an end to the practice, Artie thought for a moment that Brittany might just leave with Quinn and Santana, but then…

"So… Where should we go?" He shrugged, indicating the room around them. Brittany looked around, finding a small desk and chair to get set up at. Artie followed.

He could see, staring at her notebook, she was feeling absolutely confused by this whole assignment… this whole course. But she was trying… "Okay, let me see…" he read through the composition.

He'd already done his own assignment. Will had drawn up a list of movies and had them pick at random one movie to write a summary for. Brittany had picked out 'August Rush.' "Is it hopeless?" she asked after he'd been reading over the sheet for a few minutes.

"Don't start on the Hail Mary's just yet. It's fixable, I swear." She sighed.

"How long's it going to take?" she asked. He looked up… was she backing out. He shrugged, telling in no words 'a while.' "Okay, well I'm hungry… starved. You?" He was relieved, smiled.

"I could go for a slice." Brittany grinned and nodded, then paused.

"Just a small one." He nodded.

Once they'd relocated and gotten their slices, they got to work. He wasn't going to correct it for her, that wouldn't be right. He knew he'd have to take it slow though, if he didn't want her to get discouraged.

They had gotten through three sentences by the time they'd finished the pizza. Artie decided to go for seconds. Brittany resisted at first, but once he'd gotten the new slice, the scent was too much for her to resist. So she got her seconds as well.

When they'd gotten halfway through the text, he awarded them both a small break. Part of it was to give them both the needed rest… another was to see if she'd talk with him or if she'd close up until they got back to work. Then…

"Thank you, for helping," she smiled. He smirked back.

"Sure," he nodded. She was looking at her slice. "Can I ask…" she looked up. "You joined Glee Club…"

"Quinn wanted to keep an eye on Finn. But then C… mm…" she stopped herself gasping to herself. Artie looked to his slice.

"We know… it's okay." She was surprised. "You weren't so subtle about it." She looked sorry.

"Are you mad?" He looked at her.

"Well it hasn't worked, has it? It's all good. I can tell you like it, in the club." She smiled.

"I do," she nodded. "Didn't think I would, but…"

"You know, this is the most I've heard you talk in… well, ever?" She laughed… Oh, heaven was on to him.

"They don't really let me," she shrugged. She looked to the page where she'd copied the corrected half of her text. "Okay… Time to continue," she nodded, determined.

So, they did. At the three quarter mark, Brittany caved in once more and they got thirds of pizza. When she finished writing down the corrected final sentence, he saw a satisfaction on her face he just couldn't look away from for a time. He finally did, so she wouldn't think he was staring… even if he kind of… he was.

"Wow… It's actually done…" she spoke. "Thanks again," she looked to him.

"No problem," he nodded. Well, this was it. They'd part ways now…

"Hey, Artie?" he looked back, out of his thoughts. She looked both nervous and giddy.

"Yeah?" She leaned in to whisper.

"I kind of want fourths," she cringed. He smiled.

THE END


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